Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this opportunity to appear before you today.
The CMA brief contains seven recommendations to address pressing needs in the health care system.
Before I get to those, I'd like to highlight why, from my perspective, our health care system is in need of the federal government's attention.
Yesterday, at the Ottawa Hospital, where I am chief of staff, our occupancy was 100%. Thirty patients who came to the emergency department were admitted to the hospital, but we had beds for only four. There are ten people still waiting on gurneys in the emergency room. Six patients were admitted to wards, and they are receiving care in hallways. Three surgeries were cancelled, bringing our total cancellations this year to a staggering 480. While this was happening we had 158 patients waiting for a bed in a long-term care facility, where they would get better care at a fraction of the price.
That was yesterday. Today is even worse.
Equally, a few blocks from here, and in communities across this country, the health status of our poorest and most vulnerable populations is comparable to countries that have a fraction of our GDP, despite very significant investments in health.
This is just my perspective. Health care providers of all types experience the failings of our system on a daily basis. We as a country can do better, and Canadians deserve better value for their money. Canada's physicians are calling for transformative change to build a health care system based on the principles of accessibility, high quality, cost effectiveness, accountability, and sustainability.
Through new efficiencies, better integration, and sound stewardship, governments can reposition health care as an economic driver, an agent for productivity, and a competitive advantage for Canada in today's global marketplace. The health accord expires in March 2014, and we strongly urge the federal government to begin discussions now with the provinces and territories on how to transform our health care system so that it meets our patients' needs and is sustainable into the future. Canadians themselves also need to be part of this conversation.
To help position the system for this transformative change, the CMA brief identifies a number of issues that the federal government should address in the short term.
First, our system needs investments in health human resources to retain and recruit more doctors and nurses. Although we welcomed measures in the last budget to increase the number of residency positions, we urge the government to fulfill the balance of its election promise by further investing in residencies, and to invest in programs to repatriate Canadian-trained physicians living abroad.
Second, we need to bolster our public health infrastructure for electronic health records so we can provide better and more efficient quality care that responds more effectively to pandemics. We recommend increased investment to improve data collection and analysis between local public health authorities and primary care specialists, for local health emergency preparedness, and for the creation of a pan-Canadian strategy for responding to potential health crises.
Third, issues related to our aging population also call for action. As continuing care moves from hospitals into the home, the community, or long-term care facilities, the financial burden shifts from governments to individuals.
We recommend that the federal government study options for pre-funding long-term care, including private insurance, tax-deferred and tax-prepaid savings approaches, and contributions-based savings insurance, to help Canadians prepare for their future home care and long-term care needs.
As much of the burden of continuing care for seniors also falls on informal, unpaid caregivers—